A little more than 3 million euro is needed to accomplish the building of an Orthodox church in Tallinn, major part of the sum will be granted by St.Andrew the First-Called Foundation, press service of the Estonian capital mayor office told Interfax.

Such decision was at a conference with city mayor Edgar Savisaar and the Foundation delegation headed by its first vice-president Mikhail Yakushev.

On 12 November 2011, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church concluded the first day of his visit to the Patriarchate of Antioch with a visit to the Church of St. Ignatius the God-Bearer in Damascus – the Representation of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia to the Patriarch of the Great City of Antioch and All the East.

Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, the head of the Synodal Department for External Church Relations has accused the West of failing to stand up for Egyptian Christians during recent violence against them and has slammed Western governments for putting economic interests before human life.

"Despite the unprecedented escalation of violence against Christians in Egypt early in October, not a single Western country has put any pressure on the provisional military authorities of that country or threatened economic sanctions," a statement from the Synodal Department for External Church Relations quoted Metropolitan Hilarion as saying during a ceremony at the university of Lugano, Switzerland, in which he had the degree of doctor honoris causa conferred on him.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has reaffirmed his readiness to visit Japan in 2012.

"I plan to visit Japan next year if everything goes right and God gives me health," the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said at a meeting with Japanese Ambassador to Russia Tikahito Harada in Moscow on Tuesday.